Cantarella (Miku x Kaito) ON HOLD
by hpisbetterthantwilgt
Summary: I do not own Vocaloid or the song Cantarella. Please leave a review if you enjoyed! This is my first EVER fanfic, and I don't have much experience, so apologies if the content is cheesy and/or cliche. Contains Kaito x Miku x Len and very slight Len/Rin.
1. Chapter 1

**_A.N: I was informed by Reba-chan that this fic was filled with unnecessary formatting tags. Thank you for pointing that out! I fixed it._**

_"__I _s_at in my armchair, my eyes half closed. Today was my fifteenth birthday. Since my parents had never bothered themselves much about me, I knew I wouldn't be getting much attention today. But with much persuasion and begging, I had convinced them to permit me today to relax from my royal duties. I could tell that they had only agreed grudgingly too. This relaxation would be this year's birthday gift from them. I know that doesn't sound like much, but as the Princess of the Green_ _Kingdom, it was a huge relief to be deprived of my responsibilities for once. Besides, I didn't care how much my parents ignored me, or whether they gave me good presents or not. There was only one person that mattered that much to me…_

_"__Happy Birthday, Miku." I opened my eyes and smiled in recognition at the boy standing before me. A boy with dark blue hair and mesmerizing ocean blue eyes. It was Kaito_ _Shion, who had been my friend for as long as I could remember. Over the years, he and I had gotten closer and closer, and I had eventually come to admire him. I had tried to deny it to myself at first, but I just couldn't resist him. However, I knew for sure that he would never notice someone like me… he deserved someone much better than me. Nevertheless, I grateful that I had been blessed with the privilege of being his best friend._

_"__Thanks, Kaito." I replied getting to my feet._

_"__No problem, Milady." Kaito said. I giggled at the nickname. I did have a royal title. But since Kaito and I were so close, he had never really thought of me as a princess. He did occasionally address me as "Milady" or "Princess" just to tease me. "I have a birthday present for you, Miku." He said, and offered me something that he had been keeping in his pocket. My jaw dropped. It was a blue rose. They were by far my favourite flower. But they were extremely rare and expensive. In fact, they were so costly, that even as royalty I couldn't have them around very often. I don't mean to be discriminating, but commoners like Kaito can hardly ever afford such luxuries._

_"__Th-thank you so much, Kaito!" I exclaimed, taking the rose. "B-but how did you afford it? They're really expensive!" Kaito laughed at the comment and sank into a deep mock bow._

_"__Anything for you, Your Highness." I chuckled, and continued to admire the azure petals. _

_"__It's beautiful." I murmured. "Don't you think that blue roses are the most beautiful things in the world?"_

_"__Oh yes," Kaito responded, nodding in agreement. "They are really pretty. But they're nowhere near as beautiful as you." I felt the heat rising to my cheeks. _

_"__H-Huh? Oh, come on Kaito… you're just being nice… I-I'm not really that pretty-"_

_"__Yes… you're right. You're not pretty… you're breathtakingly beautiful." I blushed harder._

_"__Just how am I pretty?" I countered. _

_"__In every single way." Kaito breathed, drawing closer to me. His gaze was fixed directly at me, and it seemed as though he was unable to look at anything else. "Your hair… it's so silky... so smooth… it just looks amazing. And your eyes… they're the most beautiful thing about your face. They're simply… spellbinding. You look like an angel. I mean it. You could get just about anybody you like to fall for you." Suddenly, Kaito blushed and looked away. "U-um… I just remembered… there's another present I have for you… um, y-yeah…"_

_"__Why are you so flustered?" I asked, frowning slightly. "Is there something wrong?"_

_"__N-no… there's nothing wrong…" Kaito mumbled, still avoiding eye contact. _

_"__Well, you don't usually act like this." I commented._

_"__O-okay… I'll give it to you… j-just close your eyes…"_

_"__Sure." I replied, shutting my eyes. Suddenly, I felt something warm and soft brushing against my lips. My eyelids snapped open. The boy whom I had loved since childhood was now kissing me. It wasn't a very hard kiss, just a gentle, light peck. My eyes were wide open with the initial shock of it, but after a few seconds, I closed my eyes and returned his actions. Kaito pulled me closer and deepened the kiss, with a bit more passion. It felt so good, so impossibly good, that I never wanted it to end. All I could smell, feel and taste was Kaito, Kaito, Kaito… _

_Suddenly, an infuriated yell came from the corner of the room, and we instantly broke apart turned around in alarm. My heart filled with dread once I saw the source of the sound. I was staring into the enraged faces of Mother and Father._

_"__WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" They shrieked. Before we could protest, about ten guards came and surrounded us. Half of them grabbed my shoulder and forced me to stay where I was. The other half grabbed Kaito by the collar and dragged him away from me. _

_"__Get the hell AWAY from her!" Father snarled._

_"__NO! STOP! LEAVE HIM ALONE! I ORDER YOU TO LEAVE HIM ALONE!" I screamed, struggling in vain to help Kaito. _

_"__Do not listen to her!" Mother commanded. "Get him out of the palace!" She added pointing at Kaito. She had occupied a cruel and unnecessarily accusatory tone of voice. "He has committed a terrible crime! Never allow him past the palace gates again!"_

_"__NO! He's done NOTHING WRONG!"I screeched. I could feel tears burning in my eyes. How could this be happening? It had all gone wrong… so horribly wrong… It seemed impossible that mere minutes – no mere _seconds_ ago I had been happily accepting Kaito's gifts and now Mother and Father were forcing us apart forever…_

_"__Yes he has!" Mother snapped. Her cold emerald green eyes flashed with anger, and I couldn't trace the slightest bit of pity in them. Her eyes were devoid of emotions other than contempt and anger and she seemed blind to the terrible pain that Kaito and I were experiencing. "By showing signs of affection towards you, he has already sealed his fate! I will not permit you to be with a commoner! This is for your own future!"_

_"__NO! I – I don't want this! The only future I've ever envisioned is by Kaito's side!"_

_"__You?" Father sneered. "Princess of the Green_ _Kingdom? With a commoner? What a disgusting thought. We've already betrothed you with the prince of a prosperous kingdom. That'll benefit you a lot more than marrying some commoner!" He turned to the guards. "Get that disobeying monkey out of here!"_

_"__NO! KAITO!" Suddenly, Kaito broke free of the guards grasp and embraced me. Gently caressing my hair, he whispered:_

_"__M-Miku… there's nothing we can do… they're going to make us part ways forever… but please accept this…" He slipped the blue rose into my hand. "You dropped it. And also… remember that I love you." He leaned over and kissed my forehead._

_"__N-no! K-Kaito, I love you more than anyone else in the world! I want – I need you to be with me!" Kaito smiled at me, a smile that obviously cost him severe pain._

_"__Hearing you say that is more than enough for me, Miku…"_

_"__Get him away from her!" roared Father. _

_"__Yes, Your Highness!" The guards yelled. They seized Kaito and began dragging him away from me._

_"__KAITO!" I shrieked and tried to run to him, but the guards impeded me. In utter despair, tears began rolling down my face. At this, a look of deep concern broke across Kaito's face._

_"__M-Miku!" He shouted suddenly. "Listen to me! Just hang in there, and I swear to you… that I'll be there for you!" The guards overpowered him and forced him out of the door._

_"__MIKU!"_

_"__KAITO! NO!" I managed to break free of the guards grip and began to run after him. But by now I was completely blinded by tears, and before long, I tripped over and the guards dragged Kaito out of sight. The remaining guards surrounded me, blocking me from going any further. "K-Kaito… no…" I groaned, sobbing uncontrollably. I groped uselessly at thin air, but I knew that now I would never be able to reach for Kaito again…"_

"KAITO!" I woke up in bed, gasping and screaming Kaito's name. I tried my hardest to calm myself down. It had all been a dream… no, it hadn't just been a dream… it had been a memory. An excruciatingly painful memory that I had had to suffer through almost every night since I was forced to say part ways with Kaito. I laid my head back on the pillow, my parent's screaming for Kaito to leave ringing in my ears. I felt real tears now forming in my eyes and falling down my face. Why had my parents forced us apart? Even if we couldn't be together as lovers, why couldn't he still remain as my best friend? I had been so happy during the time we had been friends, why had all ended. I gazed at the blue rose, which was in a vase full of water on a table beside my bed. I had kept the vase next to a photograph framed in silver. The photo depicted me and Kaito playing together in the snow when we were five years old. We both looked so happy… now I would be prepared to sacrifice anything to see his face one more time. The blue rose that had been gifted to me nearly a year ago had long ago lost its beauty. The stalk was drooping, and the one remaining petal was shrivelled up and had lost its beautiful royal blue hue. Like my heart, when Kaito was still here, it had been intact and fully bloomed. Now it was withered, ugly and good for nothing. I shut my eyes, my aching body begging for sleep but I knew I wouldn't be able to for the whole night.


	2. Chapter 2

"Miku… Wake up…" I heard singsong voice pierce the silence suddenly.

"Mph?" I sat up and rubbed my eyes blearily. As predicted, I hadn't gotten any sleep since the dream I had had in the middle of last night. I looked around and saw the person who had tried to awaken me was my personal servant, LukaMegurine. Unlike the other servants, Luka treated me as a younger sister rather than a mistress, and was the only friend I had besides Kaito. I was extremely fond of her. "I had a really bad sleep, Luka." I murmured, getting to my feet. I immediately clapped a hand to my forehead, as it was throbbing terribly from lack of sleep.

"Why? Is there something wrong, Miku?" Luka replied frowning slightly with concern.

"N-no… there's nothing wrong…" I muttered, trying to ignore the excruciating pain in my forehead. "I just had a nightmare…" I really did not want to recount the dream again, even to Luka.

"Well, are you alright now?"

"Y-yeah… I'm fine…" I lied. "I just have a migraine is all." For some reason, Luka looked quite annoyed.

"Now, _that_ certainly won't do. You're going to need your wits about you today, because you're going to finally meet your betrothed!" At this statement, I was immediately snapped out of my stupor.

"WHAT? That was _today_?"

"Don't tell me you didn't know!" cried Luka, staring at me in disbelief.

"I-I, well, um, you never told me!" I replied, somewhat defensively. I started to feel very anxious. I hadn't even been prepared for this! What if my betrothed didn't like me? What if he was disrespectful? I sighed and stared determinedly at the floor. It hardly mattered at all. Because no matter how kind or polite he was… he would never be able to replace Kaito.

"I-I'm sorry, I already thought you knew! Well, we're going to have get you ready anyway." As she said this, Luka's eyes lit up and she looked very excited. Luka had always been unnecessarily fussed over my appearance. "I've chosen a really cute outfit for you! I think it'll really suit you. Come and see it!" Without awaiting my consent, Luka grabbed me by the hand and ran to my wardrobe. She took out a few garments and hastily hid them behind her back. I rolled my eyes. This was perhaps Luka's idea of a "surprise". "Presenting…" She said dramatically, "…your outfit!" She showed me the clothes. I raised my eyebrows. It was an extremely frilly black dress. The dress was adorned with several jewels of what seemed like every colour in existence. It _was_ very pretty, but I would prefer wearing something a lot simpler.

"Well… it's very pretty, Luka…" This caused Luka to jump up and down and squeal with excitement.

"OMG! I just _knew _you'd love it!" I rolled my eyes at her irrational enthusiasm.

"But I'd rather wear something plainer. Can't I just wear a gown or something?" I asked. Luka stared at me in astonishment

"_What?_ Oh, no, no, no!" She replied, looking horrified at the very thought. "You _need_ to look presentable when you meet your betrothed. I sighed in exasperation and decided there was no point in arguing with her. Luka took off my nightdress and slipped on a vest. At least, I _thought _it was a vest until Luka pulled strings attached to it and I suddenly felt strong pressure around my waist. I winced.

"Ouch… Luka, could you loosen it up a little bit? It's really tight." Luka rolled her eyes at the request.

"Miku, it's a _corset_. It's _supposed_ to be tight."

"Do I _have_ to wear a corset?"

"Yes, yes, of course! I want your fiancé to be absolutely smitten by you!" I sighed and chose not to press the point. I had more troubling matters on my mind.

"D-do you know who my betrothed is?" Luka shook her head.

"No," she replied, "Your parents haven't told that detail to the servants yet. They just gave the order that we had to prepare the palace in preparation for your betrothed's arrival. But I've heard rumours that it's a prince of another kingdom."

"Oh. Right." I said shortly, choosing not to mention that I already knew this detail. I felt extremely ignorant, like a schoolgirl who didn't know the answers to any questions. While all of the servants had been busy preparing the castle, I hadn't noticed anything. Luka tied my teal hair into its usual pigtails and applied makeup to my face. She slipped black high heels on my feet and stood back and admired her handiwork.

"You look beautiful." She whispered, looking ecstatic. Luka led me to the entrance of the hall where I was supposed to meet my betrothed. I could feel my heart racing. I had never been extremely comfortable with meeting new people, and I was very anxious that I wouldn't make a good first impression on my betrothed. Luka grinned at me and gave me the thumbs up. "Good luck! I bet that the lucky gentleman will fall for you the second he sees you! He'll probably get a nosebleed when he sees you and he'll have such a bad nosebleed that the whole place will be flooded with blood and- "

"O-okay Luka, I think I get it." I interrupted.

"Right! Well, have fun!" With that Luka turned around and began walking away, humming merrily to herself. I took a deep breath and opened the double doors.

"Ah, there you are, Your Highness!" A white haired servant greeted, sinking into a deep bow. "Your betrothed is awaiting you."

"Y-yes, I know. May I please meet him?" I stammered.

"Yes, of course you may! Follow me." The servant led me to the back of the hall and gestured towards a short girl with blonde hair who looked about the same age as me. She had sparkling cerulean blue eyes and was wearing a strapless yellow dress and a white bow on her head. "Your Highness, meet your betrothed." The servant said. The girl smiled and waved at me.

"Hello! It's a pleasure to meet you, Hatsune-san! My name is RinKagamine!" I stared at her in astonishment. I could hardly believe it. Mother and Father were having me get engaged to a _girl_? Were same sex marriages even _legal_? Wasn't I supposed to get married to a _boy_? That was the reason Mother and Father forced Kaito and I apart, wasn't it? "_Don't think about that." _I told myself sternly. It was bad enough that I had to relive that horrible day in my nightmares without having to dwell on it during the day.

"U-um…" I stuttered, slowly approaching Rin. "A-are you my betrothed?"

"_What_? Oh, no, no, no, of course not! Your betrothed is my twin brother, Len! He's just running a bit late!" Rin responded, whilst laughing.

"O-oh… right." I mumbled. I once again felt exceptionally ignorant and stupid. "W-well, it's a pleasure to meet you too, Kagamine-san."

"Oh, none of that "san" crap now. Call me Rin!"

"O-okay…" I replied. I was beginning to like Rin now. "Well in that case, feel free to just call me Miku."

"Okay then! I will!" Suddenly, a blonde boy ran into the room, panting slightly. "Len-kuuuuuun, you're really late!" Rin complained, pouting.

"Yes, I know… sorry about that, but there was a massive traffic jam of servants impeding me." Replied the boy. He looked almost exactly like Rin; he had the same blue eyes and blonde hair. He also was the same height as her and was wearing a black suit with a tie. His gaze travelled around the room and rested on me, and his azure eyes suddenly began to sparkle with excitement.

"Ah… you must be my betrothed. It's an honour to meet you. My name is Len, LenKagamine." Len took my hand and pressed his lips against it. He stared at my face with an expression one might wear if they had been offered a plate of their favourite food, and he smiled, no, he _smirked_ at me.

"Y-yes… I am. M-my name is MikuHatsune. B-but you can just call me Miku. I-it's a pleasure to meet you, Kagamine-san."

"Oh, _please, _just call me Len." He insisted. Without warning, he wrapped an arm around my shoulder and began walking me out of the hall. "Will you please give me a tour of the palace, my darling?"

"U-um… s-sure…" I replied, quite stunned by his sudden affectionate actions. I was also taken aback by how he was addressing me as "my darling", as we had only just met. Did Len always behave like this? I also was aware that he was staring at me with such intensity that I felt strangely uncomfortable. I began to lead Len towards the royal gardens, and he started to talk to me, the smirk still resolutely plastered on his face.

"Thank you very much, _sweetheart_." He replied, smiling seductively.

"N-no problem." I responded in a small voice. There was a momentary silence, in which Len kept his sharp gaze determinedly fixated on me. Finally, he said:

"I've already heard so much about you, my dear. I've heard that you were very pretty… but I never imagined you so breathtakingly beautiful."

"O-oh… I – u-um – t-thank you. I'm flattered." I stammered.

"It's nothing, my darling. You know, I'm really very pleased that we're to be married. It'll bring – ah – _peace_ between the GreenKingdom and the YellowKingdom." I frowned slightly in confusion.

"The YellowKingdom?" I said quizzically. Len raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, didn't you know? I'm the prince of the YellowKingdom."

"Oh!" I exclaimed, hastily looking away to hide my embarrassment. I could feel the familiar feeling of ignorance gradually filling me yet again. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't know!" At the sight of my embarrassment, Len's eyes sparkled, and he looked strangely dominant. **(A.N: No, I do NOT meant dominant in _that_ way O.o)** He pulled me into a tight embrace. At this gesture, I felt yet even more uncomfortable and awkward.

"Oh, that's quite alright, my darling!" he replied, stroking my hair. "You needn't worry about such petty matters when we are married." Len's eyes were sparkling as though he had just been told a good joke, and his smirk was still glued on his face. I gulped and nodded my head.

"R-right. Okay than." I mumbled, staring at the ground. The next few moments were spent in silence, which only seemed to be more awkward as Len was still kept his intense gaze focused on me. Finally, we reached the gardens, and I was finally able to break the silence and dilute the awkward atmosphere by saying "Oh look, we're at the gardens."

"Oh, excellent!" he exclaimed. He took me by the hand and directed me into the large green landscape. For the next several hours, Len and I remained in the garden getting to know each other. He seemed like a fairly pleasant person, but there were a few things that bothered me about him. They weren't very major things; it was just that Len never tore his gaze from me. Also, he always was smirking for no apparent reason and he would sometimes show me gestures of affection, like he would randomly hug me from behind and caress my face. He also addressed me as names like "darling" and "sweetheart" Finally, at late afternoon; Len said that he had to go to a private meeting with Rin. "It's quite official, so I can't afford to miss it." He said in a serious tone, but he wore an expression that made him look carefree, and he was _still_ smirking. I can't understand why that was bothering me so much, but it was making me feel belittled and uncomfortable.

"It's alright." I said, nodding. "I understand. It's been a pleasure meeting you, Len."

"Likewise. There's no need to miss me too much, Miku. I'll be back for you, soon enough." Without warning, Len grabbed me by the hand and pulled me in front of him. He then took me by the face and _kissed_ me, fully on the mouth. How to describe it… It was not at all soft and sweet like how Kaito had kissed me; it was so rough and wet. Len was relentlessly exploring my territory, and I was just standing there, too shocked to do anything. Finally, after about a minute of it, Len pulled away and looked into my horrified face, looking exceptionally pleased with himself. My hands shaking, I gently fingered the place where Len's lips had so recently been pressed against.

"W-wha…?" I managed to stutter. I was completely lost for words. Len's smirk widened.

"You're _mine _now. You're going to have to spend the rest of your life with me when we're married." He whispered. Suddenly, Rin ran into the gardens and waved at us.

"Hello there, Miku-chan, Len-kun! How are you two getting along?" Before I could respond, Len hugged me from behind and nuzzled his cheek against my neck.

"Oh, we're _very_ much in love, aren't we,_ sweetheart_?"  
>"U-um…" I faltered.<p>

"Yes. She says yes." Len said smoothly, brushing his lips against my ear. Rin beamed at us and gave us the thumbs up.

"Well, that's fantastic! C'mon, Len we have to go now. We're going to be late!"

"Right, okay." Len replied, nodding. He then turned to me and smirked yet again. "Goodbye for now, darling." He said coolly. I inclined my head slightly towards him and whispered "Goodbye" in a tiny voice. I then ran as quickly as I could into the palace, headed for my room. Len's words were ringing in my head. "_You're mine now. You're going to have to spend the rest of your life with me when we're married." _What had he meant by it? Why had he just kissed me so suddenly? Was he just in a strange mood today, or did he always behave like this? I could feel my head throbbing, but I had the impression that it was a result of my utter confusion rather than lack of sleep. I ran up a staircase and burst into my room. My vision was immediately obstructed by a large amount of thick bubblegum pink hair. In addition to that, I felt a pair of arms tightly wrap around my waist, completely killing my air supply.

"OMIGOSHOMIGOSH OMIGOSH! You're back!" I heard Luka's voice squeal. She appeared to be trying to glomp me to death. "How was it? Did you enjoy yourself? Was your fiancé nice? Was he handsome? What's his name? Do you like him?"

"C-can't… breathe…" I managed to get out. Luka let out a shriek of anguish.

"You're dying? OH GOD! NOOOOOOO! HELP ME, SOMEBODY HELP ME! MIKU IS DYING!"

"H-hug… t-too t-tight…"

"Oh, right! Sorry about that!" Luka said, sounding relieved. She released me, allowing me to breathe. "But you need to tell me! How was it? Did you like him?" Luka gabbled, her violet eyes sparkling with anticipation.

"H-he seems… decent…" I lied in shaky tone. Well, it wasn't lying, or was it? He hadn't been cruel to me in any way, had he?

"AWESOME! This is really great, because you're going to spend the rest of your life with him." Upon hearing this, I inexplicably thought of Kaito; his warm blue eyes, his gentle soothing voice, the feel of his lips upon mine… I felt a lump materialize in my throat, and tears burn my eyes.

"R-right, okay. W-well I'll just get changed for bed." Declining Luka's insisting to help, me, I walked over to the wardrobe to find a nightdress, trying to hide the fact that tears were now streaming down my face. After a while of persuading, Luka finally left the room. With nobody to conceal anything from anymore, I lay on my four-poster bed in fetal position and began crying hysterically. I craved Kaito's presence more than ever now.

That night, I couldn't sleep, as I was thinking of Kaito. I tossed and turned fitfully, but I just stubbornly remained wide awake. To be honest, I was afraid to sleep now, as I was afraid that that horrible nightmare would come and haunt me yet again. Suddenly I heard a creaking sound come from the corner. It caused me to start a little, but I chose to ignore it. Then it sounded again, and this time I diverted my eyes towards the source of the sound. To my great astonishment, I saw that the window was wide open. A draught of wind was rushing through it, and the lilac curtains were billowing around it. I couldn't understand how it had gotten into this position, I could have sworn that I closed it last night… To my horror, a dark figure emerged through the open window, and slid into my room.

"KYAA!" I screamed, pulling the blankets up to my neck, trembling slightly. "W-who the hell are you?" I wasn't usually so rude to strangers, but I wasn't inclined to act polite towards someone who had just crawled through my bedroom window. "Get out of my room NOW, or else I'll call the guards!" I threatened. The stranger did not obey me, nor did it give me any response. It approached me, blanketing me in its shadow. Suddenly, its head was illuminated by a ray of moonlight. It appeared to be was a tall man, wearing a black hat that was tipped over his eyes, and an eye mask that one might wear to a masquerade ball. A familiar smirk was plastered on his face.

"L-Len!" I shrieked. "What on earth are you- " Wait, hang on. This person couldn't be Len. He was quite a bit taller. The stranger leaned over, and took the withering rose from the vase beside my bed. "HEY!" I shrieked, angry tears forming in my eyes. "GIVE THAT BACK!" K-Kaito gave that to me! I-it's all that I have left of him!" The stranger suddenly stiffened and stared at me, his smirk drooping. But almost instantly, he regained it. He took something out of his pocket, and with the assistance of the moonlight, I was just able to discern a blue rose in his hand. My eyes widened. He swiftly replaced the withered rose and the fully bloomed rose back into the vase. He then moved very close to me, staring at me with an almost hungry expression. I wasn't used to having people so close to me, so I felt a blush creeping onto my cheeks. The stranger stroked my face with his gloved hand.

_"As with any common romance now, I'll make sure that you fall for it."_ He breathed.

"…H-huh?" Suddenly the stranger turned around and began to climb back out of the window. "Wait!" I called. The stranger turned his head to look at me, still resolutely smirking. "Who are you? What is your name?" I asked. Instead of answering, the stranger just pressed a finger to his lips, and whispered

"_Later, my princess._" He jumped out of the window, but I didn't bother checking to see whether he was alright or not. I somehow knew that he had landed safely. I lay back down on my bed, knowing that it would be a waste of time to even try to sleep now. I found it extremely difficult to register this day's events. It seemed impossible that I had been getting so fussed over an outfit just this morning.


	3. Author's Note: Explanation Preview

**AN: Okay, so as you probably already know, this story is currently on hold. ****To be honest, it feels kinda awkward to do this since it's been about a month since I logged onto ...**** Anyways, the only reason why I'm doing this, is because I've kind of got a lot going on with my life at the moment... I've been *extremely* ignorant with my schoolwork and my parents have confiscated my computer... And I don't think they're planning on giving it back anytime soon... So I have to do all my writing/editing on my phone now, and that doesn't really work out too good... Anyway I'm really sorry! I didn't want to, but I don't really have a choice now... I have posted a preview for anyone who's interested... Anyway, without further ado...**

Chapter 3 - PREVIEW

Over the next few days, my life went through the same schedule. Almost every day had the same routine as the day prior. Luka would always wake me up early in the morning, and make me wear a dress that was always too fancy for my taste. I would go to meet Len and spend the day with him. He would always act resolutely the same, always smirking and always speaking a voice of determined sweetness. Sometimes, I couldn't help but try to imagine what went through Len's mind. What sort of thoughts filled his waking hours? What dreams came to him at night? Why did he always behave the way he did? I just didn't understand. At night, thoughts of Kaito always haunted me. The masked man would always climb through my window, and present me with a blue rose. I don't know why I never order the guards after him, why I never stop him and question him about his identity. Maybe it's because I don't care about anything anymore. I hardly had any sleep nowadays, and when I did, my dreams were in utter disarray. They were filled with images of mine and Kaito's childhood, entangled with images of our forceful separation. I would usually up in the middle of the night, screaming, weeping and begging thin air to release Kaito. I knew now that the girl I used to be was now dead. No, I don't mean I was a lifeless corpse, never to move or breathe again. I mean that the happy, optimistic girl named Miku Hatsune was now gone forever, damaged well beyond repair. She had been replaced by a brittle, quiet introvert, whose smile was one of the rarest things to be seen. She had transformed over the past several months, which was way too fast in my opinion, into the unsmiling young woman that I was. She seemed to exist only in a far off galaxy, a place in which Kaito was still by her side. But now she had deteriorated completely, and was trapped in a world where she was all alone. Yes, she was dead. Dead to the world. Dead to myself.

"Mikuuuuu…. Wakey-wakey…" Luka's familiar voice rang through the silence and reached my ears, snapping me back to reality. Without awaiting her consent, I immediately arose out of bed, and walked swiftly over to the wardrobe. I gestured to it, signalling for her to choose an outfit for me. These actions seemed to surprise her, as I was usually more talkative. But she understood my intention, and approached me. I was still resolutely silent, so Luka attempted to make a conversation with me.

"So... You're going to meet Len again today." She began. I just responded with a simple "Mmm" and said nothing more. Luka tried again.

"So, um... It's your birthday tomorrow. Are you excited?

"Yeah..."

"What gifts to you want to get?"

"I don't know..." I muttered. Luka seemed to run out of ideas after that, and that just seemed to intensify the awkward air between us. I just stood there, still and uncommunicative as a mannequin, as Luka dressed me up. She finally decided to make me wear a crimson dress with golden patterns down there front as she insisted it "suited me". I personally disagreed, but I didn't object. Luka led me down to the hall where I had first met Len, and where I would meet him again today. As usual, he acknowledged me with his trademark seductive smile and his greeting of "Good morning, my darling." . I just responded with a simple nod, as I feared I would betray the emotions I was keeping bottled inside me if I spoke. Len started to lead me to the gardens, as usual, and attempted to make a conversation with me. I just have him very simple answers such as "yes" and "okay" and avoided direct eye contact. The reason why I was acting like this was because I felt so exposed. Len seemed to know everything about how my mind worked, what sort of thoughts filled my head, what responses he could expect from me. However, I could hardly fathom what went through mindmind. I found him utterly unpredictable. And I hated that. I despised how he could foresee every single one of my actions, while I practically knew nothing about how he was programmed. So I was determined remain as closed and secluded as I could. After a while of walking, we finally arrived at the gardens. Len began to talk to me about our wedding plans, about what dress I would be wearing, about where it would be, smirking all throughout.

"It certainly would be wonderful if we could get married in the Yellow Kingdom, wouldn't it, my love?"

"Yes, I suppose it would be." I mumbled in response. Then, Len changed the subject.

"I have something for you, darling." Len reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a small box. I gaped as he opened the box and revealed what was inside. Out was a ring, made out of pure gold, decorated with a... sapphire blue rose.

"It's your wedding ring." Len announced, smirking. Suddenly, I felt an unfamiliar new feeling forming me. It burned inside of me, filling me with adrenaline. It ran through my veins and filled every inch of me. It took me a while to fathom what this feeling was. Then I realised. It was anger. Pure resentment and fury. I was infuriated at Len for this. I knew now that my suspicions had been confirmed. Len was the so called "stranger" who had been sneaking into my room every night. And I knew perfectly well why. He was mocking me, trying to rub in the fact that I was utterly his, and that there was nothing I could do about it, whether I liked it or not. And I hated him for it.

**AN: It's still really unprofessional, as it's still in the process of being written/edited so yeah... But anyway, hope you like!**


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